青梅 (qīngméi) · green plum, unripe plum

Measure Word

一颗青梅 kē

Meanings

1 green plum
2 unripe plum

About the ingredient

水果 Fruit · In season: spring and summer

The hard, green, unripe fruit of the Chinese plum tree, rarely eaten raw as it is very sour. When it reaches the markets in May and June, people steep it in liquor to make plum wine, or salt and sugar it into snacks.

Characters

Examples

HSK 4

青梅可以用来做酒。

Qīngméi kěyǐ yònglái zuò jiǔ.

Green plums can be used to make liquor.

HSK 4

她最喜欢吃酸酸的青梅。

Tā zuì xǐhuan chī suān suān de qīngméi.

She loves eating sour green plums.

Tips

culture

青梅 appears in the famous idiom 青梅竹马, literally "green plums and bamboo horse", describing childhood sweethearts who grew up playing together. The image comes from a Li Bai poem.